Bernardo Villela is like a mallrat except at the movies. He is a writer, director, editor and film enthusiast who seeks to continue to explore and learn about cinema, chronicle the journey and share his findings.

Blu-ray Review- Astral City: A Spiritual Journey

Astral City: A Spiritual Journey tells the story of André Luiz (Renato Prieto), a doctor, as he journeys from life to Umbral, a kind of purgatory, and the afterlife in Nosso Lar, where he ultimately has to adjust to his death and prepare for eventual reincarnation.

With this film being a Brazilian production and my being dual citizen of the United States and Brazil, my interest in this film would be fairly clear. It’s a film I actually saw a small piece of on cable in Brazil but never saw all of. Furthermore, I knew it was a big production but was not aware its being based on the word of Chico Xavier, a world renowned medium/spiritualist.

However, pre-existing knowledge of Xavier’s work or philosophies are unnecessary to follow and appreciate this film. Much of the film is introducing these concepts in a narrative way, and it does communicate in a manner apart from religion so the dogmatic, preaching inclinations of the film are kept to a minimum. As the protagonist does learn the workings of this new plain of existence and see his prior life more clearly the initial conflict is resolved and must be replaced. This does cause some issues with the stakes as the conflicted character needs to be a secondary one from that point forward. Yet it is intriguing and well-produced enough to still be engaging even though it does bloat and drag in its latter half.

The cinematography, like many elements of this film, has to communicate quite a few environs and implement numerous techniques to do so. It travels from a gilded past to a dark underworld and a bright heavenly plain with equal aplomb in all, which is a credit to Ueli Steiger.

The effects considering the initial production date of the film are fair. As with any film that has much effects work in it the results are hit-and-miss, but the effect desired is usually very well conveyed.

Departmentally the costume and make-up teams are perhaps the most interesting to see. In a film such as this it is clear to see the interplay of the work done by each to create a cohesive whole.

Another aspect that can often be overlooked in a film that features a copious amount of visual effects is the production design. It can be overlooked entirely. The use of locations, sets and effects mesh very well throughout the whole generating numerous emblematic locations that enrapture the eye.

The certain lack of undulation in the emotional fever chart of this film makes it tough sledding for the actors and the results inconsistent, but there are flashes that make it passable.

While at times it functioned more as an exercise in departmental appreciation, and a source of pride for Brazil ramping up things on the technical, the film does manage to hold interest throughout. While I’m not enamored with the translated title it does make it likely that this film will find the most receptive audience for this film. The film does manage to be somewhat more than a philosophical treatise, but does not transcend its ethereal trappings as sufficiently as it could have.

The trailer of the film in question is the bare minimum a Blu-ray or DVD can offer as a special feature. It can be even more interesting to view the trailer in hindsight. This way you can more closely examine the link between art and marketing and how the story is conveyed to sell to an audience.

In this film it’s interesting to see how the film was geared toward the American arthouse crowd rather as it is a Brazilian film. It does accurately convey the stakes of the story and the production aspect.

Other Trailers

One thing that can be interesting to access later (and not before you sit down to watch the main feature) is the additional trailers. This way you can potentially discover new titles. This disc contains: The Way He Looks and The Amazing Catfish, which I have seen. There are two I am not familiar with Symphony of Summits and Lilting.

Making of

The making of is usually one of the meatier bonus features you’ll find. On this disc that is certainly the case it runs 22 minutes, it was likely used as promotion on Brazilian television based on that running time.

If there was a Brazilian film that would have the need for such a featurette this would be it. When it was made it was one of if not the biggest production budgets for a Brazilian film. Super-productions are usually reserved for television in Brazil and it’s interesting to get a glimpse into how this production came together. Yes, some help was brought in from abroad where it was clearly needed (most notably with the Ueli Steiger, Director of Photography and SFX company) but as the interviews go around the horn to all production heads you’ll find most of them are nationals.

While the look at all aspects is a bit cursory it is great to see some of the journey of this story from Chico Xavier’s book to the big screen: from taking disparate locales and elements, to creating the visuals both in principal photography and in post.

As many films are its journey to the screen was long but seemingly worthwhile. This do offers a good look at what it was like on set from Werner Schünemann post-wrap speech to the National philharmonic recording Philip Glass’ brilliant score (another coup for the nation’s cinema this film is responsible for).

Oftentimes when watching a film it can be hard to tell how that film fits into the national landscape of the cinema represented. While there is some salesmanship in this doc it does give you a sense of context to that, which is valuable for the uninitiated.